Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has praised the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of Saturday’s local government elections in the state.
The governor spoke after voting at the Ungwar Sariki polling unit in Kaduna North LGA.
Saturday’s polls in the state are historic as they are the first in which an electronic voting system will be used in the country.
KADSIECOM had adopted the e-voting system last year after which the state House of Assembly modified the electoral laws to allow the electoral body to use the system.
There were, however, fears about the feasibility of the use of the system. But Governor El-Rufai said the reports reaching him from across the state, showed that the polls went on smoothly.
He explained that initial plan was to secure card readers from the Independent National Electoral Commission for use in accrediting voters.
That did not happen and KADSIECOM was forced to use manual accreditation methods after which voters picked their candidates by clicking on the logo of their candidate’s party.
Regardless, the governor hailed the speed with which he voted.
“The whole voting process took less than 10 seconds in my opinions,” he said. “So, it is quite easy, very smooth and straightforward.”
Meanwhile, elections have been cancelled in Kaura and Jaba local government areas due to security concerns.
Although the governor acknowledged that, he said it did not change the fact that the elections were mostly peaceful as the overwhelming percentage of the state was peaceful.
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